Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset. Its limited overs team is called the Somerset Sabres. The club has its headquarters at the County Cricket Ground, Taunton. First-class games are also played at Bath. Former grounds include Yeovil, Weston-super-Mare, Frome, Glastonbury, Wells and the Imperial Tobacco ground in south Bristol.
Origin of club:
The formation of Somerset CCC was on 18 August 1875 by a team of amateurs at a meeting in Sidmouth, Devon immediately after a match against a local side. Somerset is the only one of the present first-class counties in English cricket whose county cricket club was founded outside the boundaries of the traditional county.
In 1886, Somerset did not play any other first-class counties and dropped out of the Championship until 1891. Somerset was then able to arrange 12 matches against first-class counties and so force its way back into the Championship, which was now an official competition. Somerset CCC is therefore recognised as a first-class team from 1882 until 1885 and from 1891 to the present day.
Team Composition:
With the inclusion of English T20 runners up Somerset CCC in the CLT20, India sees the return of prolific batsman Marcus Trescothick for the first time since he broke down due to stress during the England tour in 2006. He is easily Somerset’s best batsman having scored 1024 runs in 30 matches at a strike rate of 156.33. The English side will be relying heavily on Trescothick to continue his good form at the top of the order along with fellow veteran opener and Captain Justin Langer. These two need to fire if Somerset is to make it to the latter stages of the tournament, although the rest of the side comprises of some handy cricketers who could make things uncomfortable for superior opponents.
Somerset Squad:
Justin Langer (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Zander de Bruyn, Omari Banks, James Hildreth, Craig Kieswetter, Pete Trego, Arul Suppiah, Alfonso Thomas, Max Waller, Charl Willoughby, Wes Durston, Mark Turner, Jos Buttler, and Ben Phillips.
Players’ Profile:
Justin Langer:
Though he is in the twilight of his career at 38, the little left-handed batsman from Western Australia has lost none of his enthusiasm. Retired from Test cricket in January 2007 – at the same time as Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath he has been no easier to replace than those two giants of the game. Langer joined Somerset in 2006 and became captain a year later. Surprisingly, Langer played only eight ODIs but he has shown himself to be a real force in domestic limited-over games and has a strike-rate of 140 in T20 games.
Captain
Age: 38 years 290 days
Playing role: Opening batsman
Batting: Left-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm medium
Omari Banks:
Standing tall at 6ft 4ins, Banks looks as though he might be the latest West Indies quick bowler to terrorise batsman. In fact, the Leeward Islander is a thoughtful off-spinner with an elegant action that is also capable of giving the ball a good clout as a lower middle-order batsman.
He has played only 10 Tests, but the second of them was fairly special Banks contributing 47 not out as West Indies completed the highest ever fourth innings run-chase by making 418 to beat Australia in Antigua. He played one match for Leicestershire in 2001 but is a limited-overs favourite with Somerset.
Age: 27 years 52 days
Playing role: All-rounder
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm offbreak
Jos Buttler:
Age: 18 years 364 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Zander de Bruyn:
The all-rounder played his third and last Test for South Africa against England at Port Elizabeth in 2004 and, like a good number of his countrymen, has gone down the Kolpak route to make a living out of English domestic cricket. A tall and classical batsman, he hit the headlines in South Africa during the 2003-4 season by emulating Barry Richards feat of scoring 1,000 runs in a domestic first-class campaign. As a medium-pace bowler, accuracy is the 34-year-old s greatest strength and an economy rate of around eight runs an over in T20 cricket is nothing to be ashamed of.
Age: 34 years 64 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium
Wes Durston:
A middle-order batsman, Durston is an integral part of the Somerset set-up. He played a pivotal role in Somerset Cricket County Club s victory in the Twenty20 Cup, beating Lancashire in the 2005 final at the Brit Oval. In 2008, he averaged 55 with the bat in the NatWest Pro40 league, but generally struggled to find a place in the first-team. Durston s all-round abilities came to the fore when he topped the county’s bowling average with five scalps at 14 apiece in the Twenty20 Cup.
Age: 28 years 336 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm offbreak
James Hildreth:
At 25, Hildreth has plenty of time to kick on, but it will take a lot for him to become the player many predicted he would be when still a teenager. Has played for England at every age up to U-19s and made 210 in his final Test against Bangladesh as a teenager. Since then, the middle-order batsman has been described as an extraordinary talent by his now Somerset captain, Justin Langer, and he started the 2009 county championship season by hitting a triple century against Warwickshire.
His T20 strike-rate is 133.
Age: 24 years 363 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast
Craig Kieswetter:
Craig Kieswetter is a wicketkeeper-batsman of great potential who, despite playing for South Africa in the Under-19 World Cup in 2005-06, decided to qualify for England instead. He is already on the selectors’ radar and qualifies in February 2010 – unless South Africa come calling first. Educated at Millfield School, he made his Somerset first-team debut in April 2007, scoring 69 not out off 58 balls and taking a catch his coach described as “world class”. He has since taken the domestic game by storm, impressing with his strong, clean striking especially in the one-day game where he has formed a formidable opening partnership with Marcus Trescothick.
Wicketkeeper
Age: 21 years 283 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Ben Phillips:
Phillips is an all-rounder, hungry for cricketing success. The best compliment came from Director of Cricket Somerset Brian Rose, who said: “Somerset needs people of Ben’s calibre to come into the side when it is weakened for any reason. He has been a popular member of the team but never really more than a bits and pieces player.
Age: 34 years 342 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium
Arul Suppiah:
Born in Malaysia, Suppiah represented his country at the age of just 15. He went on to play for England at the U-14, 15, 17 and 18 levels and having attended the famous Millfield School made it into Somerset s first team during 2005. A right-handed batsman and orthodox left-arm spinner, he hit his maiden first-class century against Derbyshire and also made six appearances in the Twenty20 as Somerset won the Cup that same season. This year began badly for Suppiah when his application for permanent UK residency was turned down, forcing him to return to Malaysia. But he was then granted a work-permit and picked up some valuable wickets during the T20 campaign.
Age: 26 years 8 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Slow left-arm orthodox
Alfonso Thomas:
A pace-bowling all-rounder, Thomas played his one and only T20 international for South Africa against Pakistan in 2007. The following year, he followed a now well worn route to England and made his debut for Somerset. Although a hard-hitting and valuable lower-middle order batsman, it was with the ball that Thomas did most to help his county to reach the Twenty20 Cup final against Sussex. By taking 18 wickets at 17 runs apiece, the Cape Town born player proved a real success
Age: 32 years 210 days
Playing role: Bowler
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium
Peter Trego:
Trego is an all-rounder who, surprisingly, has not yet attracted the attention of England s selectors despite some fine performances with bat and ball in limited-overs cricket. Although only 28, Trego has been around a bit he started at Somerset, then had spells with Kent and Middlesex before returning to the county of his birth he finally seems to have found consistency. At the T20 level, he has a batting strike-rate of 136 and his contribution to Somerset s successful domestic campaign included 241 runs at an average of 48. He has also hit a 54-ball championship century against Yorkshire to seal a thrilling run-chase.
Age: 28 years 87 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm medium
Marcus Trescothick:
Despite stepping down from the international stage under unfortunate circumstances, Trescothick has remained popular on the domestic scene and almost every innings he plays reminds England of what they have lost. The left-handed opener returned home early from tours to India and Australia during 2006 because of a stress-related illness and then, last year, told the selectors he was no longer available for consideration. But while a career spanning 76 Tests and 123 ODIs came to an end, Trescothick, 33, has continued to blaze a trail for Somerset and his T20 strike rate stands at a mighty 156.
Age: 33 years 256 days
Playing role: Opening batsman
Batting: Left-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm medium
Mark Turner:
Mark Turner is a former England Under-19 bowler who has been troubled by injuries in his short career. He moved from Durham to Somerset in 2006 in search for more permanent opportunities but, with many types of quick, has found Taunton a tough place to prosper. His pace, however, is an asset and he could yet develop into a strike weapon.
Age: 24 years 319 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast
Max Waller:
Spinners have enjoyed plenty of success since Twenty20 cricket became all the rage, and young leggie Waller has already spent some time in the limelight while helping Somerset to make their mark in this year s domestic competition. Although only 21, and without a first-team appearance before this year, the youngster picked up 10 wickets at a 20 runs apiece as the county finished as runners-up to Sussex. He also found himself bowling with leg-spin legend Shane Warne in front of 25,000 spectators for Sky TV s special lunchtime feature on spinners during August s deciding Ashes Test at The Oval.
Age: 21 years 188 days
Batting: Right-hand bat
Bowling: Legbreak
Charl Willoughby:
Although lacking the raw pace of many new-ball bowlers, the Cape Town born left-armer is a master of control and regular finder of swing. He has become a star performer for Somerset in all forms of the game. Now 34, he played two Tests and three one-day internationals for South Africa before going down the Kolpak route and joining Leicestershire. It is in England s West Country, though, where he has really prospered helping the county to a championship promotion and limited-over success. At the domestic T20 level, he has 64 wickets at an average of 74 and an economy rate of less than seven runs an over.
Age: 34 years 278 days
Batting: Left-hand bat
Bowling: Left-arm fast-medium
Author: mona Gupta, New Delhi
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